Happy Birthday, Dispatch!
The Community Policing Dispatch premiered 4 years ago this month with just three articles, no way for readers to subscribe, and a small editorial board that was proud of having finally seen the concept through to reality, but not entirely sure what we’d have to say in the February issue. Read More...
Hawthorne PD launches Coffee with a Cop
One of the big issues that law enforcement must continually deal with is communication. We all know that the majority of contacts law enforcement has with the public is in emergency, sometimes adversarial, or emotional situations. Read More

A Winning Partnership in Maine
In the town of Waterville, Maine, there is a unique partnership between the academic and law enforcement communities. This successful relationship exists in the Criminal Justice Undergraduate Program within Thomas College. Their Criminal Justice Program prepares each student with an understanding of policing topics and a well-rounded liberal arts education. Read More
New from VIPS
In 2009, the Volunteers in Police Service (VIPS) Program held a focus group to see how agencies were coping with tightening budgets by utilizing their existing volunteer programs. While agencies are cutting staff and programs, the use of volunteers remains consistent or, in some cases, has increased. Read More



It is the start of a new year, and one in which I expect the COPS Office to be very busy. We ended 2011 with some very good news, when on November 18, President Obama signed into law a FY2012 “minibus” spending package (H.R. 2112) that contained 3 of the 12 annual appropriations bills and included funding for the COPS Office.